(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cache memory for storing plural data to be processed, system and method thereof.
(2) Description of the Related Art
A technique of dividing a cache memory into blocks and assigning each of the blocks to different programs with the view to increase a speed at which the cache memory accesses a main memory is disclosed for example in the Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 62-144257.
With the technique described above, it has not been possible to effectively use a free area in another block since a block to be provided for a program is fixed. In the case where plural programs share data, they share a block as well, so that the data cannot be stored in a cache memory, or the block cannot be assigned to each of the programs. For example, in the case where two kinds of processing, one for moving picture and the other for audio, are simultaneously executed, the data that is being processed and that needs to stay in the cache memory has to be deleted. As a result, the number of times a cache miss occurs increases and the moving picture processing does not terminate within a predetermined time.